"Without You" [ft. Kerry Leatham]

Brainfeeder

Artists:

As Lapalux, 25-year-old Essex producer Stuart Howard creates music from the disintegrated remains of vocal parts, samples, drum machines, and synthesizers. His first two EPs released on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label in 2012 buried wistful melodies under glitchy mosaics of acid jazz-pop. "Without You", from Howard's upcoming full-length debut Nostalchic, represents a different side of the young producer, as he peels away most of his compositional tricks to reveal a jilted, R&B slow burn.

It's one of his least busy tracks yet, and the bracing clarity allows each sonic component to create its own harmonic negative space: the thick, lurching synth line, the recurring ring that dissolves into echo, the dew drop drum beat, and Howard's androgynous voice. The chorus reassembles the track's components into a myriad of zoetic configurations, but "Without You" works because Howard reins in his kitchen sink tendencies to deploy his sound in a measured, potent dose.